How well do you know yourself?

Last week I got a call from an old career coaching client. Her company had presented her with a yet-to-be flushed out dream opportunity, but she was so hyper-focused on finalizing the job description, she was missing the bigger picture: a diamond ring had just landed in her lap! After I helped her take in the 30,000 foot view, walk in her boss’s shoes for a moment and see what this leap could mean to her career trajectory long-term, she moved from frustrated to exhilarated. Her tendency to obsess over the details almost cost her an incredible, life-changing opportunity!

Having worked in the field of coaching, leadership development and human potential since 1996, I’ve noticed that people with a high degree of self- awareness tend to roll with the punches, know how to leverage their strengths, are more comfortable taking risks and often, they’re even able to cultivate self-compassion for their shortcomings.

My global coaching/consulting firm is in the midst of some staff transitions and I’m watching myself flail like a fish out of water without a full support team in place. I’m an ENTJ if you know Myers Briggs speak–a strategist and a visionary; I value efficiency, hate wasting time and am keen on using my energy and talents in the most effective way possible. This transition is requiring me to practice “good is good enough,” problem-solve, tame technical issues, do less, ask for help and trust/surrender and let go.

Easy? No! But I’m keeping my sense of humor and remembering how off-balance I get when I don’t have the support I need. It’s actually kind of comical: picture a music conductor trying to guide their orchestra with only the horns section in place! And yes, it’s requiring me to revisit old mental train stops I haven’t been to in years.

What makes you tick? Our sister company Career Strategists uses a few career/personality assessments with clients (we really like the StrengthsFinder 2.0, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the DISC Assessment, but there are many more; check with your university alumni career services office for help or reach out to our senior coach Angela for a complimentary consult). Regarding individual therapy (read 5 tips for finding a therapist), I really like Somatic Experiencing, Imago, and even assessments like the Enneagram and 5 Love Languages, can be helpful tools. You can find a list of our favorite career exploration books on our Inspiration Cafe, as well.

I challenge you to do some belly button gazing; learning more about how you’re wired takes inquisitiveness and courage. Here are a few questions to get you started:
-What do you need to be successful at work? In family life?
-What is your best time of day (and your worst)–when are you most productive?
-What self-limiting habits keep you from living fully and owning your power (read more)?
-Describe the “lens” through which you see life? Are you’re an optimist or a pessimist by nature?
-What are three words your close friends would use to describe you?

One of my favorite quotes is from author Wayne Dyer is, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” Perspective is everything!

THREE OPPORTUNITIES–I’D LOVE TO SUPPORT YOU:

• Hire me to plan/facilitate a custom workshop or retreat for your company, team or organization on life balance, resiliency or self-renewal. I’ve been speaking professionally for 25+ years on work-life balance and my clients include Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit agencies, national conferences and women’s organizations. Learn more and email me at workshops at reneetrudeau dot com to explore how I can help you.
• Retreats are a great way to step back and learn more about who you are, what makes you tick and what is most important to you at your current life stage. Join me this fall for an upcoming women’s retreat; learn more.
• Craving authentic community and want to find (or create) your tribe? Learn more about our global sisterhood of RTA-Certified Facilitators  and empower/support women in your community!  More here on how to become a RTA-Certified Facilitator and join our inner circle  ($100 off through 5/31; includes private coaching with me).

Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by coach/author/speaker and Career Strategists president, Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women experience balance through the art/science of self-care, her work has appeared in The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, Spirituality & Health and more. Thousands of women in ten countries are becoming RTA-Certified Facilitators and leading/joining self-renewal groups based on her award-winning self-care curriculum.  She is the author of three books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and 16-year-old son. More on her background here.